The present invention relates generally to the field of confectionery products. More specifically, the present invention relates to forming confectionery products into desired shapes.
Confectionery products have been molded, extruded or otherwise shaped into various forms over the years. For example, bubble gum has been formed into shapes such as flat sticks, cylinders, cubes, cigars, shredded chew, and the like. Providing a confectionery product, such as bubble gum, in novel shapes or forms can lead to enhanced marketability of such a product, particularly with younger consumers.
An example of a traditional shape for chewing gum is the gum ball. For centuries, children as well as adults have enjoyed gum balls in a variety of flavors.
For gum balls having centers of xc2xd inch (1.3 cm) or greater, the process of forming such gum balls from a mass of confectionery product is well known. In this case, a confectionery product coupled with an extruder forms the confectionery product into ropes of gum. The ropes of gum have a diameter of approximately the diameter of the finished gum ball. Next, the ropes of gum are forced via centrifugal force through a plurality of spinning rods to form a multitude of individual gum balls. The individual gum balls are then sent through a cooling tunnel to harden. The resulting gum balls have a diameter of at least xc2xd inch (1.3 cm).
While this conventional method produces satisfactory xc2xd inch (1.3 cm) gum balls, it cannot be used to produce gum balls smaller than xc2xd inch (1.3 cm). Moreover, the gum""s softness, flexibility and tackiness led the industry to believe for some time that producing smaller gum balls was infeasible.
More recently, methods and apparatuses for making gum balls or other products having a nominal diameter less than xc2xd inch (1.3 cm) have been developed. One method of producing such products includes die pressing a sheet or slab of confectionery material or gum, for example, by using a pair of rollers with corresponding spherical die depressions. Another method involves scoring a sheet of gum into separate cubes and physically contacting or tumbling the cubes so that they have a more spherical shape.
Die pressing suffers from the propensity of the gum balls to stick to an interior adhesion surface, i.e., the inner surface of the die. Solving the adhesion surface problem has led to inconvenient and expensive solutions, such as pre-chilling the die rollers. Tumbling, on the other hand, is time-consuming, inefficient, is limited to providing spherical shapes and does not provide an optimal spherical shape. Tumbling can also have the adhesion surface problem. Further, neither of these methods are practical for producing sub-miniature sized gum balls, for example, xe2x85x9 inch (3.2 mm) diameter or less.
Miniature gum balls are an attractive confectionery product. A need exists to solve or avoid the problems associated with the current methods and apparatuses for forming miniature size confectionery products of less than xc2xd inch (1.3 cm). Further, since continually changing the size and shape of confectionery products is desirable, forming sub-miniature size gum balls is a novel size that can enhance the overall marketability of chewing gum.
The present invention relates generally to the field of confectionery products. More specifically, the present invention relates to forming confectionery products into miniature shapes. The present invention provides a method and apparatus for forming miniature size confectionery products. In one preferred embodiment, the present invention employs an underwater pelletizer that alleviates many of the problems concerning gum ball production.
To this end, in an embodiment, a method for forming miniature size confectionery products is provided. The method includes feeding confectionery products into an extruder. The method also includes extruding the products through a die plate. The method further includes cutting the extruded products in a liquid filled chamber to form miniature products. The method then includes drying the miniature products.
In an embodiment, the method includes feeding the products in a bulk mass.
In an embodiment, the products are chewing gum products.
In an embodiment, the products are medicaments.
In an embodiment, extruding the products includes pressurizing the products from 100 psig to 800 psig.
In an embodiment, extruding the products includes extruding the products through a plurality of apertures.
In an embodiment, the method includes the step of controlling the temperature of the die plate.
In an embodiment, the method includes the step of heating the die plate up to 220xc2x0 F.
In an embodiment, the method includes transporting the miniature products from the die plate, in liquid, to a dryer.
In an embodiment, the method includes the step of controlling the temperature of the transporting liquid.
In an embodiment, the transporting liquid is water having a temperature of 40 to 65xc2x0 F.
In an embodiment, the method includes the step of making up the transporting liquid with fresh transporting liquid.
In an embodiment, the method includes the step of dusting the discharged products with an anti-agglomerating compound.
In an embodiment, the method includes the step of passing the discharged products through a screen having apertures adapted to ensure correct product size.
In an embodiment, a method for forming miniature size chewing gum products is provided. The method includes mixing a plurality of ingredients to form a chewing gum mass. The method also includes adapting the chewing gum mass into a form receivable by a die plate. The method further includes forcing the mass through an aperture on an input side of the die plate, the aperture being smaller than the mass. The method then includes cutting the mass on the output side of the die plate to form miniature chewing gum products.
In an embodiment, adapting the mass includes heating the mass.
In an embodiment, adapting the mass includes sheeting the mass and cutting the mass into a plurality of pieces.
In an embodiment, adapting the mass includes rolling the mass into an elongated roll.
In an embodiment, forcing the pieces includes pressurizing the input side of the die plate.
In an embodiment, cutting the pieces includes cutting the pieces in water having a temperature that cools the pieces.
In an embodiment, cutting the pieces includes rotating a cutting blade across the aperture.
In an embodiment, an apparatus for forming miniature size confectionery products is provided. The apparatus includes an extruder that is adapted to receive a confectionery product, heat the product and pressurize the product from 100 to 800 psig. The apparatus also includes a pelletizer that is adapted to receive the pressurized confectionery product from the extruder. The pelletizer has a die plate that is heated up to 220xc2x0 F. The die plate is adapted to withstand the force of the pressurized mass. The plate also defines a plurality of apertures that are in alignment with cutting blades. The cutting blades are housed inside a waterproof chamber that is part of the pelletizer.
In an embodiment, the apparatus includes a dryer in fluid communication with the waterproof chamber.
In an embodiment, the apparatus includes a device for dusting miniature products that are discharged from the die plate with an anti-agglomerating compound.
An advantage of the present invention is to provide improved methods and apparatuses for forming miniature and sub-miniature size confectionery products.
A further advantage of the present invention is to provide a method for producing confectionery products that has a high production rate.
Moreover, an advantage of the present invention is to provide a method of producing confectionery products that have good shape quality.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide confectionery products having reduced deformation and product clumping.
Furthermore, an advantage of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that requires relatively little floor space inside a facility.
It is yet a further advantage of the present invention to provide a flexible apparatus that readily allows for the production of different sized confectionery products.
It is still another advantage of the present invention to provide a flexible apparatus that couples to many different confectionery forming devices, such as extruders, reactors, mixers and melt pump kneaders, each of which manipulate bulk confectionery product.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be described in and apparent from the detailed description of the presently preferred embodiments and from the figures.